Skepta Finally Drops “Gas Me Up (Diligent)” Track, Visuals
The first single from his hotly-anticipated ‘Knife & Fork’ album.
After sharing a snippet last summer, Skepta’s “Gas Me Up (Diligent)”—the first track from his forthcoming album, Knife & Fork—has finally arrived.
“Gas Me Up (Diligent)” arrives exactly a week after “Jangrova” with ODUMODUBLVCK and Idris Elba, the lead from the Tribal Mark soundtrack. Produced by Cardo, the new single is a light and airy cut with a few melodic touches; even Skepta gets a bit melodic towards the end, suggesting there could be a few surprises on the Knife & Fork album when it drops (a release date has yet to be confirmed).
Artwork for the track went online earlier this month but was quickly removed amid controversy that the imagery—a group of people with shaved heads, one of whom had the words “gas me up” tattooed on the back—bore a resemblance to victims of the holocaust, themselves forcibly given shaved heads and tattoos by Nazi guards. It has since been replaced by a graphic with the text “Image Not Found”.
Responding swiftly to the controversy, Skepta removed the artwork and issued the following statement: “I’ve been waiting to drop Gas Me Up (Diligent) since teasing it April last year, worked hard getting the artwork right for my album rollout which is about my parents coming to the UK in the 80s, skinhead, football culture, and it has been taken offensively by many. I can promise you that was definitely not our plan, so I have removed it and I vow to be more mindful going forward.”
In a later Tweet, he added: “I can honestly see how my single artwork without context can be deemed offensive, especially in a time like this but again that was not my intention. But after some thought, I don’t feel like I could continue being the artist you all know and love if my art is policed. I have to quit if I can’t express my art as I see it. So to help with context, here are some pictures from our mood board for the 1980s UK story for my album Knife & Fork.”
Peep the Gugzay-directed, Domshotthis and Stevo1k-shot visuals for “Gas Me Up (Diligent)” above, and be sure to add the song to your playlists.
